Memorial Day Fun....

Or rather memorial weekend fun!  My parents were in town for the extended weekend to enjoy their little grandson and enjoy they did!  Look at all the fun we had...

We snoozed on grandpa...

We laughed at the baby in the mirror with gramma

We manipulated grandpa with our pouty lip

We kept trying to manipulate grandpa with our lips

We made granpa feel better with a cute laugh

We explored new toys

All in all it was a fantastic weekend even if we (Noah and I) were getting sick (you can see how red his poor eyes were in the pics).

A little Sophie Action

Noah's starting to really play with his toys.  He's getting the hang of grabbing them (although it's still hit or miss most times). This morning I gave him Sophie in addition to the rings and as you can see he was hell bent on shoving both simultaneously into his little mouth, along with his fist:)

This all ended in tears and then he fell fast asleep...I guess shoving all of your toys into your mouth at once is kinda tiring!

3 months old!

So here we are - 3 months old!  My little Noey is growing up soo fast!  We did our monthly photo shoot this AM and I love love love that he's starting to be more responsive and actually smile when I ask him to (or rather coo and make funny high pitched noises until he smiles).

So, here's the recap:

- We're all getting more sleep!  He goes down around 7 or 8 and is up around 4am to eat then down again until 7 or 8 on most days (this is a relatively new development - normally he's up at 1am, 5am, 8am
- during the day he's eating 4 - 5 oz every 3-4 hours (we're up to 30-32oz a day!)
- he started daycare a few weeks ago and so far so good.  He seems to be thriving.
- he's figured out a few of his toys - if he bats long enough he gets them to flop and make noise.  It's pretty consistent now
- he smiles at everything - the walls, the drapes, other people (women especially - he has every woman in a 10 yard radius of him wrapped around his chubby little fingers almost instantly)
- he holds weight on his legs pretty well.  He'd rather be standing than anything these days. When he's on his back he's just kick kick kicking those little legs.
- still very much loves his baths and actually tolerates diaper changes pretty well.
- he's obsessed with his hands.  He plays with them, clasps them, stares at them and tries to fit both of them in his mouth at the same time.  Now and again he'll manage to get his thumb in but he'd rather just his fist.
- is in size 1 disposables although we're not using a ton as we've switched to cloth!
- he's on the tail end of his 0-3 month clothes and fits most of his 3 and 3-6 stuff.  I tend to size up on the pants due to the bulk of the cloth.

We didn't have a dr's appt for a well check up but did end up there for a sick visit (clogged tear duct) and found out that he's 13.5 lbs.  He soooo doesn't look like he weighs 13.5 lbs...

I calibrated my monitor and I'm not sure I like it...he looks green in all my pictures....I'm hoping he looks normal to everyone else.

A little afternoon photoshoot...

The lighting in the guest room was perfect the other night right before Noah's bath.  I tried a few pics with his cute little shirt on and then he told me he'd had it.  So, we waited until after his bath when he was happy again (he just loves loves loves his bath!)

Mr. Hippo wanted to pop in and say hello too!  You won't find any conventional rubber duckies here...we're all hippo!

Mom's day present...

I'm double posting this one to my baby blog and my photography blog because they're actually related this time!  So, my mom has been talking about this one particular picture of Noah - one of my favorites too (so much so it's part of my header up there on Little Kloep) that I wanted to do something special for mom's day for her (because you can only buy your mom so much jewelry and mine's allergic to flowers).  So, I went out to BayPhoto and looked for a the best way to represent that photo for her (because printing and framing is so yesterday..:) ).

I ended up ordering one of their ThinWrap products with a metallic finish and I'm in LOVE!  So in love that I was anxious to give it to mom and totally forgot to take pictures of it...haha...they're now hanging over the mantel at her house in Pittsburgh - 4 hours away from where I am.

I ordered an 8x12 print that came wrapped and mounted on masonite board which made it super sturdy. Then they took a block of dense foam and attached it to the back so that when you hung it on the wall it stood off the wall by about .5 inches giving an even more awesome effect!  The print itself was metallic which is something new for me.  It's a very subtle sheen that when viewed at the right angle makes the image pop off the page.  It adds that extra dimension that makes the picture stunning (not that a photo of Noah wouldn't be stunning any way you presented it -this was just xtra stunning...haha).

I don't have pics of what I gave my mom (I'll have to take a few when we go home next) but I did pull a few from BayPhoto's site...

The top image is of the finishes.  We have the very bottom on there - metallic with a satin finish.  You can see the canvas and the satin finishes as well.  The bottom image is a view of the back - very well put together.

Anywho - I've not been asked by BayPhoto to review these, I just did it because I loved how everything turned out and thought others might find this useful!  I know we'll be trying other products from BayPhoto in the future and I'll feedback on those just as I did this one (but hopefully with some pics of the actual product!:) ).

Life as art...

I don't usually talk about giveaways in my normal blog posts but this one is too good not to share!  Modern Bird Studios is using the power of viral marketing to get their art out there and these designs are fantastic!  So fantastic that I've entered every giveaway I see in hopes of winning one of these beauties!

From their website -

Modern Bird Studios creates personalized, modern art from your photographs. Each work is a one-of-a-kind, original studio piece created with a combination of digital, hand, and painting processes on an Oak composite. We take your photograph, and break it down into a two-color image, which results in abstract shapes that make up the form. We then choose two contrasting colors to create the painting. The result is a marriage between technology and traditional painting to create a totally hip urban-style art piece that enriches your home.

How cool is that??  And I have just the perfect picture!  Want one for yourself?  Go to Boutique Cafe to enter the giveaway..or better yet, don't - I want to increase my odds of winning:) (but do follow Modern Bird on twitter and fbook - they're hilarious!)

Cross your fingers for me please!

Little Miss Macie...

I've mentioned her before plenty - Macie, our 2 year old Vizsla.  In fact, she's all I blogged about before Noah (on our Photography Blog). Seems silly to spend so much time documenting an animal but I'll contest that Macie is not just any animal.  She's one of the best dogs I've ever known (and I've known alot of dogs!).

Vizslas are known for their gentle nature, need-to-be-an-equal-member-of-the-family mentality, full-of-energy-please-exercise-me look, and this-is-my-baby-now protectiveness.  They're affectionately referred to as Velcro Vizslas because they must be with you at all times (if you don't want help going to the bathroom or showering ever again - don't get a V) and they forget that they're 40+lbs when they climb into your lap.  Macie's no exception!  She exhibits all the best qualities of  V and more:)

She follows you from room to room and then finds the softest comfiest spot to plop down and relax.  Often times that's an 8"x8" square pillow on our couch that she turns and turns until she finds a comfortable way to drop down.  If there is a pillow handy she's using it. If there's a blanket in the vicinity she's under it.  This dog is all about comfort.

More than that she's so laid back and what we all "pliable."  She will let you pick her up, man handle her, rearrange her, pull on her tail, pull on her ears, sit on her back whatever...she just takes it.  Sometimes you get the look like "are you done yet?" but most times she just lays there and waits for you to finish so she can snuggle in again and get comfy.

She has a borderline unhealthy obsession with tennis balls and will do anything for those mini carrots or a cheese cube.  She only eats when she's told, loves to cuddle in bed but only when you say it's okay, loves dogs more than she loves people and would be happy as a clam to spend her day chasing balls down at the field.  Her recall is not so great but add a tennis ball or the possibility at cheese and your odds at getting her to come to you increase dramatically!

At the end of a long day of playing all she wants to do is cuddle up next to her people and snooze.  If she can rest her head on your lap (or put herself fully in your lap) she's happiest. She appears to love Noah and plants the occasional kiss on him (although it's a mini kiss with just the tip of her tongue rather than a full out slurp) when we're not looking.  She's become fiercely protective and will bark at anyone that comes to the door  but she's more likely to cover you in kisses than bite you once you come in - don't tell the door to door solicitors that!

I gush about her and could probably go on for days but it's all because I realize how lucky we are to have a pup that loves everyone in our family and has taken to the new baby with grace and ease. 

Okay...I'm done being sappy about my dog now:)

My little model...

Next week is Noah's baptism and since I know we're going to be crazed running around trying to get everything ready and what not I know that we'll likely slip on some of the pics I thought I'd do a quick photo session today with him to get a few shots of the beautiful gown he's wearing.  He was even hanging with me long enough to get a few without the gown on:)

The gown has been used in his family for a very long time.  His daddy wore it when he was baptized as did his gramma before him.  In fact, all of his gramma's siblings, most of their children, and their children's children were baptized in this gown.  The gown has been refurbished a few times and now bears the names of all those that have worn it for their baptism. 

Maternity Photos...

A few days before Christmas my friend Kim at Good Things to Come Photography came over to my parents house for a quick maternity photo session!  I can't say enough great things about her and her photos:)  She's been a great friend for many many years and I was soooo happy to have her doing our shoot!  She has amazing talent and I could not wait to see the pics she took...well, she made me wait to see the photos until my shower because she had something special planned!

At the shower this past weekend she presented me with a  BEAUTIFUL photo album that everyone at the shower signed with words of advice and what not....the album itself made my cry but once I had all the signatures in it I cried even harder:)  I can't get over how much I love it!  It was by far and away my favorite gift that day (sorry folks - I'm a photography junky..this had my heart the moment I saw it:) )

I'll post a few select shots here but you can also go out to Picasa to see the full set.  I'm soooooo happy with how they turned out and even happier with the album that she had printed...

Don't forget to check out Kim's website and Facebook page and if you're in the Pittsburgh area and are in need of a photographer don't hesitate to look her up!!

Oooo...pretty.....

How pretty is this?

I stumbled upon it while browsing etsy.com - It's a Gypsy Rose Handbag.  A camera bag that doesn't look like a camera bag!  Seeing my recent obsession with photography (more so than ever before if that's possible), I think I need one:)

It has nothing to do with the baby (other than I'll be taking lots and lots of pics of him once he's here) but it certainly is pretty...